Incentives and loans for energy efficiency

Nikki Chandler, of Ultimate Properties and Development, sets up equipment to depressurize and test a home during an energy audit in Longmont.
(
Matthew Jonas
)

Boulder resident and painter Amy Metier is excited about her new refrigerator, and not just because it's shiny and new. She got a $400 rebate for recycling her old refrigerator late last year and is now looking forward to the financial savings the new, energy-efficient fridge will bring to her next utility bill.

The refrigerator was the latest in a series of efficiency upgrades Metier made to her home in recent months. She made them when she did because of financial incentives that were available to her, and she knew those incentives wouldn't be around forever. Right now, Boulder County residents have a number of tools at their fingertips to ease the financial burden of making efficiency upgrades to their homes.

Metier, like more than 1,500 other Boulder residents so far, found out about the incentives she could qualify for, and identified the biggest energy leaks in her house, through an energy audit she requested from EnergySmart, a Department of Energy-funded partnership that aims to make Boulder County homes and businesses more energy-efficient.

"I was surprised and shocked to learn that I had some interesting leaks that I didn't know about," said Metier, who decided after the audit to improve the air sealing in her crawl space and fix some heating ducts that she hadn't known were broken.

The energy audits normally cost $120 but are currently being offered at $90, a price that will last until the funding pool that's subsidizing the discount runs out. Beth Beckel of EnergySmart expects that not to last beyond about April.

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Whether you sign up for an energy audit or not, it can be encouraging to educate yourself on the incentives that may be available for any efficiency work you've been tempted to undertake. For starters, there's a loan program launched last summer by the county, in connection with Elevations Credit Union, that makes low-interest loans available to people taking on energy efficiency or renewable energy projects in their homes or businesses.

"It's low-interest and it's easy access. It goes down as low as a 580 FICO score, so even if you have bad credit, this is a great option for you," said Beckel. "You apply for the loan, get approved, and then install your improvements. And once the installation is complete, the check is cut and you're able to pay for those improvements with that loan."

There's also a federal tax credit available for efficiency-related home improvements, written into the fiscal cliff deal at the beginning of the year, that allows for a credit worth 10 percent of the cost of materials purchased for the improvements, and that's capped at $500.

However, as Brad Queen, Energy Division Director for the Center for Resource Conservation, points out, that doesn't add up to much -- at least not until you've spent large sums of money.

"Ten percent of the material cost of things is not a heavy incentive. If you did $1,000 worth of work doing insulation to your house, a good portion of that is labor. So if $500 of that was material costs, you can get $50 back on your taxes," he said. (The good news is that at least it's an actual credit, and not a deduction.)

"There are better incentives that are out there. The Xcel incentives are better. If you were to replace your furnace, you can get $120 for choosing an energy-efficient furnace. Or if you did insulation work on your house, Xcel will fund $300 worth of a rebate," Queen noted. "Those incentives are quite good. They're the best thing going right now."

In addition to the furnace and insulation rebates, Xcel has rebates for customers installing, among other things, efficient hot water heaters, air conditioners or evaporative cooling systems, and certain appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines. The company also has a program, Home Performance with Energy Star, that encourages customers to make at least three upgrades at once by giving a bigger rebate for each upgrade than they would earn if implemented individually.

"Usually, it can add up to quite a good incentive for the client," said Matt Wilmoth, an EnergySmart advisor. "If the client chooses to do one thing, there are stand-alone rebates. If you just wanted to do attic insulation, for example, you can get a rebate through Xcel Energy, but it would be less than if it were rolled in with other upgrades."

Rather than residents trying to navigate all of these options on their own, however, county officials and energy experts recommend consulting with an Energy

Smart advisor, who can give you free advice over the phone. Then you're talking with consultants whose job it is, at least in part, to keep track of what loans, rebates, and tax credits are available and who is eligible for them. You can go beyond a phone consultation, of course, and sign up for an energy audit the way Amy Metlier did.

Metier just compared both electric and gas bills from 2011 months of October, November, December and January 2013 (so far ) to 2012 months. She discovered savings of $31 in electric bills and and $134 in gas bills.

"That is quite a savings," she says.

Longmont resident Matt Kenworthy also underwent an energy audit.

Kenworthy lives in a house, now about 40 years old, that he's long known is not the most efficient, but making home improvements can be expensive. He got the audit to learn what upgrades would yield the greatest results in his house -- he's guessing, when

the EnergySmart team comes back with the full analysis in a few days, that better attic insulation will be among the first steps they recommend -- and for help navigating the financial tools available to him. A few hours after the advisor left his house, he said, "Some of this stuff is pretty expensive. Any help that's available, I'll take it, I guess."

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